Sleep Dentistry in Edmonton
The quality of your health and life can be negatively impacted by sleep disorders and sleep deprivation, which can lead to decreased work performance, higher accident risk, and mood changes.
While you’re asleep, your body has a chance to recover from daily stress. However, the occurrence of oxygen deprivation and brain arousals during sleep can hinder this process. To determine if you have a sleep disorder, you must undergo a sleep test, as it’s the only reliable method. If your physician or dentist suspects a sleep disorder, they will refer you to a sleep clinic where a sleep specialist will supervise the testing.
What is Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)?
Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a common sleep disorder characterized by repetitive episodes of partial or complete blockage of the upper airway during sleep. These obstructions cause pauses in breathing, leading to decreased oxygen levels, fragmented sleep, and loud snoring. Over time, resulting in:
- Excessive daytime sleepiness: OSA disrupts sleep, causing fatigue and reduced alertness during the day.
- Morning headaches: Reduced oxygen levels during sleep can lead to headaches upon waking.
- Impaired cognitive function: Chronic sleep disruptions can affect memory, concentration, and decision-making abilities.
- Increased risk of serious health complications: Untreated OSA can contribute to hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, and Type 2 diabetes.
Risk factors include obesity, family history, and anatomical abnormalities. OSA, if untreated, can lead to serious health complications such as hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, and Type 2 diabetes.

How can Dental Sleep Medicine help?
Dental Sleep Medicine, a specialized area of dentistry, focuses on managing sleep-related breathing disorders, like Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), using oral appliance therapy. Patients can expect to see an improvement in their lives in a number of ways:
- Better sleep quality: Custom-fit oral appliances, such as mandibular advancement devices, help maintain an open airway by repositioning the lower jaw forward. This reduces airway obstruction, allowing for uninterrupted sleep and improved sleep quality.
- Reduced daytime sleepiness: By addressing sleep disruptions, patients often experience reduced daytime sleepiness, leading to increased alertness and overall better daytime functioning.
- Enhanced overall health: Effective treatment of OSA can lower the risk of associated health complications, including hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, and Type 2 diabetes, improving the patient’s overall health.
- Quieter sleep environment: Oral appliance therapy can significantly reduce snoring, creating a more restful sleep environment for both the patient and their sleep partner.
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OSA Diagnostics at UDC?
In the process of diagnosing and treating sleep-related breathing disorders, such as OSA, your dentist may collaborate with a Board-Certified Sleep Specialist and other medical professionals as necessary, for example your family physician, to ensure a comprehensive and effective use of diagnostics, tools and systems. This interdisciplinary collaboration is crucial for several reasons:
- Accurate diagnosis: Sleep specialists help in evaluating and diagnosing sleep disorders, ensuring that the most appropriate treatment plan is developed for each patient.
- Comprehensive treatment: By working together, dentists and sleep specialists can create personalized treatment plans that address both the dental and medical aspects of sleep disorders, leading to better patient outcomes.
- Ongoing monitoring: Collaboration enables continuous assessment of treatment efficacy and adjustments, ensuring optimal long-term management of sleep disorders.
- Patient education and support: A multidisciplinary team provides patients with extensive knowledge and resources, empowering them to better understand and manage their sleep health.
- Holistic care: Combining expertise from dental and medical professionals promotes a holistic approach to patient care, addressing not only sleep-related issues but also overall health and well-being.
In addition to a thorough exam and questionnaire, some of the technology we use to assess and diagnose the existence of potential sleep disorders includes the SleepImage System and in-house CBCT 3D imaging.
SleepImage Device
The SleepImage System is a cloud-based Software as a Medical Device solution that enables healthcare professionals to access and collaborate on patient care from any location. Upon completion of a patient’s sleep study, their report becomes available to the medical experts in just a matter of minutes via the cloud. The system enables users to:
- Assess sleep quality
- Determine sleep duration
- Identify sleep disorders
- Diagnose Obstructive and Central Sleep Apnea
- Manage sleep disorder treatments
- Evaluate treatment effectiveness
- Ensure compliance, ease of use
As a user-friendly wearable device, the SleepImage device collects sleep-related physiological data that is then analyzed by the cloud-based SleepImage System Software. This FDA-cleared medical device offers accuracy on par with polysomnography for diagnosing sleep apnea in children and adults, providing the convenience of a consumer wearable with the reliability of a medical diagnostic tool.

CBCT 3D Imaging
Dental cone-beam computed tomography, or CBCT, is a specialized 3D x-ray technique utilized by dental professionals when standard facial and other x-rays fail to provide adequate details about a patient’s dental health. By employing CBCT technology, dentists can generate 3D images that encompass aspects like soft tissues, bones, teeth, and nerve pathways in a single scan. This technology can be beneficial for identifying and diagnosing sleep disorders, and offers the following benefits:
- Shorter scan times
- Exposure to less radiation than most 2D x-rays
- High level of detail
- User-friendly
- 3D display, unlike traditional x-rays
- Tremendous resolution, high accuracy of details
- Fewer appointments, we have the technology in-office

Dental Treatment and Management Options for Common Sleep Disorders
ProSomnus - Mandibular Advancement Devices
Vivos Sleep Apnea Treatment
Dental Arch Expansion Appliances
Myobrace Appliance Therapy
Functional Frenuloplasty
Myofunctional Therapy
Collaboration with Medical Specialists
The dentist may collaborate with other medical specialists to diagnose, assess, and treat sleep disorders to ensure a comprehensive and accurate evaluation of your condition. Sleep disorders often involve multiple factors, such as airway obstruction, muscle function, and systemic health, which require a multidisciplinary approach for effective treatment. Collaboration between dental professionals, sleep specialists, and other healthcare providers helps create a personalized treatment plan that addresses the specific needs and underlying causes of your sleep disorder. This team-based approach allows for the sharing of expertise, leading to better patient outcomes, more efficient treatment, and improved overall health. Collaboration between your dentist and other medical specialists can be crucial for a comprehensive understanding and effective management of sleep disorders.
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